Leaders from Waste Management and two giant consumers of recovered fiber last week detailed the variety of ways their operations have been impacted by recent import shifts in Asia. They also laid out some ideas to help lift material quality.

Chinese authorities have issued the first five rounds of recyclable-material import permits for 2018. Compared with 2017, the country has allowed substantially less recycled plastic to enter the country and approved permits for far fewer companies across all material types.

Stakeholders in Texas recently collaborated on a major study on the economic impact of recycling in the state. Here, two experts discuss the study’s insights into market development opportunities, funding sources for businesses and communities, and infrastructure needs and opportunities.

Over the last year, robotic sortation has made a big splash in recycling. However, experts note the current iteration of technology is just the beginning of an automation shift that could reshape the realities of MRF construction and operation.

Minnesota’s Hennepin County recently dug into the household trash stream to look for additional landfill diversion possibilities. The study results showed organics are the low-hanging fruit, but even theoretically recovering all of them would mean falling short of the county’s aggressive diversion targets.

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As the Chinese recyclables import ban takes hold, we're offering up a special tool to help stakeholders easily understand all that led up to the implementation of National Sword as well as the key moments of global fallout over the last six months.

Municipal programs are often short on funds, and it’s easy for recycling outreach to fall on the back burner amid budget constraints. East Hartford, Conn. recently took action on the issue by partnering with a plastics industry initiative.